Homebrew club gets technical about beer

I was a late-blooming beer drinker. I didn't really appreciate it until one night at the Golden West Saloon, after tasting a sickeningly oversweet stout. I couldn't even finish it, and I asked if Mathias the bartender had any IPA so I could wash the taste out of my mouth. All I wanted was bitterness. What I got was that, plus a load of finishing hops, too. I had just drank my first BridgePort IPA, and I was in love. That's when I began to make some effort to seek out what I had been missing and sample more variety.

Our brief and incomplete summary of the wide world of beer

By Jessica Cassyle Carr

Pale Ale

Encompassing a wide variety of beer types like bitter, India Pale Ale (IPA) and Extra Special Bitter (ESB), pale ale tends to be a considerably hopped-up British variety and can vary from light golden to dark amber in color. Ever growing in popularity, American-style IPA is hoppier and less malty than its English brethren and is thus more bitter.

Pair with: Strong, greasy foods like pizza and burgers, and fried foods like fish and chips